Gloucester's Curtis bringing barefoot running to prominence
By Dan Guttenplan Staff Writer The Gloucester Daily Times Mon Aug 01, 2011, 12:05 AM EDT
There was a time when Preston Curtis might have experienced social anxiety in the moments leading up to Tuesday's Yankee Homecoming Road Race in Newburyport.
That's because the 42-year-old Gloucester resident plans to take his position at the starting line barefoot. No sneakers, no Vibrams, no minimalist running shoes. Skin on pavement is Curtis' preferred method of transportation.
With the rising popularity of barefoot running, Curtis, the president of Barefoot Runners Society Inc., no longer feels like a fish out of water during competitions.
"I feel proud of it," Curtis said. "I've paid my dues. I feel like I'm helping people now. I feel validated. It's like going from zero to hero."
Curtis believes he is one of the innovators of the barefoot running trend. Battling running-related injuries in 1997, he decided to take to the beaches of California barefoot in a last-ditch effort to save his running career.
This was before the book "Born to Run" became appointment reading for runners looking for a way to alleviate pain during workouts and races. The book encourages runners to return to their roots, shedding sneakers in the name of improved health.
At first, Curtis experienced a measure of embarrassment when he passed other runners. He found himself interrupting runs to avoid being seen practicing his nontraditional style.
"I would be on the roads around the beach, and I'd approach another runner," Curtis said. "I would cut off the road onto one of the paths to the beach. I felt like I was perceived as a new-age freak."
Fourteen years later, Curtis feels like a cross between a doctor and a teacher. In 2009, he started Team New England Barefoot Runners, an organization that now has more than 100 members, according to the club's website, http://newenglandbarefootrunners.net.
What started as a partnership with renowned barefoot running author Ken Bob Saxton has become a career for Curtis. The presence of four or five runners from Team New England Barefoot Running at Yankee Homecoming race will be further validation for Curtis that the movement is taking shape across the region.
"The foot is the most important part of the running structure," Curtis said. "In a shoe, it's almost like the foot is in a cast. People are not exercising their feet. Some people can't walk out to their driveway to get the newspaper without shoes on."
Camden, Maine, resident Theresa Withee started running barefoot in 2008 in hopes of reviving her running career. At the time, because of an injury to her IT band and pain associated with runner's knee, she couldn't run a mile comfortably. Last spring, she ran the Boston Marathon barefoot in what was believed to be a first for a New England woman.
"I haven't had any problems since I started running barefoot," Withee said. "It's a case of starting over completely. I had nowhere to go but up, so I had to go slow at first. I changed my technique, and it taught me to run properly."
In 14 years, Curtis has suffered only three minor injuries that stemmed from stepping on glass or rocks.
"When you weigh the risk against the injuries you can suffer running in sneakers, it's absolutely worth it," Curtis said. "I've had situations when I had to remove glass from my foot after a run, or it stays in my foot for a week and falls out. But I wouldn't be running right now if I hadn't tried this."
Form-fitting barefoot running shoes do not provide the same health advantage as the foot-on-pavement technique, Curtis said. Even the lighter sneakers come with a heel, which encourages heel-to-toe strikes that can result in stress fractures.
Curtis believes barefoot sneakers are designed for runners who can't overcome the mental hurdle of placing their feet directly on the pavement. He feels the naturalist approach forces athletes to run on their toes.
"You still can't feel the ground and land properly (in sneakers)," Curtis said. "If you can't be delicate, then you're not learning properly."
Not only has the barefoot technique limited Withee's injuries, she has also improved her speed. She estimates her 5K and 10K times have improved by two to six minutes, depending on the distance. She ran the Boston Marathon in 4:01.
"My recovery is a lot faster," Withee said. "After I ran the Boston Marathon, I ran four days later. It doesn't work for everybody, but it worked for me. I had to get in my mind that I was completely starting over."
Curtis and his group of four or five teammates are likely to encounter an additional obstacle on Tuesday. More than 3,000 people combined to enter the 10-mile and 5K races last year, so the crowded course could offer opportunities for the sneakerless to lose their feet under other runners' feet.
With the days of barefoot running-related embarrassment behind Curtis, it's a risk he's willing to take.
Copyright 2011 GloucesterTimes.com, Gloucester, MA. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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